Police use tear gas in Sudan's capital to disperse protesters amid political deadlock

Police in Sudan’s capital Khartoum used tear gas on Thursday to disperse demonstrators marking an uprising 38 years ago against dictator Jaafar Al Nimeiri amid uncertainty over the signing of a long-awaited deal to restore the country’s democratic transition derailed by a 2021 military coup.

Witnesses said the demonstrators were in the low hundreds but their number was likely to rise later in the evening. The clashes happened near the centre of Khartoum, home to the Nile-side Republican palace and the headquarters of the armed forces.

There were no reports immediately available on whether there were casualties.

The deal between the military and pro-democracy groups would install a civilian-led government, remove the military from politics and reform the armed forces, police and security forces. The signing was scheduled for April 1 but postponed to April 6 before being delayed once again.

The main pro-democracy group negotiating with the military said on Thursday that the only outstanding issue was how to go about reforming the military and security agencies.

“The negotiations have made progress on several issues but only one issue remains unresolved,” the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said.

That was a thinly veiled reference to what many in Sudan believe to be a deadlock over the integration of the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary into the armed forces.

RSF commander Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is believed to be reluctant to sacrifice the autonomy of his force, which has its roots in the Janjaweed militia that fought on the side of the government against rebels in Darfur in the 2000s.

The RSF has since morphed into a major force, boasting 100,000, well-armed and combat seasoned men, independently procuring its arms abroad and hiring foreign military advisers. It has vast economic interests, including gold mining.

Sudan’s military ruler, army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, insists that he will not sign off on any deal that does not clearly spell out a timeline for the integration of the RSF.

A military source familiar with the negotiations said RSF representatives wanted the paramilitary to be under the command of the civilian prime minister, who will take charge of the 24-month transitional period before elections are held. The military, according to the source, wanted it to be under the direct command of the army chief.

The technical committee looking into the issue will hold its next meeting on Sunday, said the source.

Generals Al Burhan and Dagalo led the October 2021 coup, but Gen Dagalo later said the power grab did not realise its declared aims and served as a gateway for supporters of former dictator Omar Al Bahsir to make a political comeback.

The FFC and other pro-democracy groups called for Thursday's demonstrations to mark the 1985 uprising against Al Nimeiri, which paved the way for the military to seize power and hand it over to an elected government a year later.

Al Nimeiri seized power in a 1969 military coup that toppled a democratically elected government. Al Bashir, also a career soldier, seized power in a coup 20 years later.

The FFC urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and demanded that security forces protect participants, apparently against possible attacks by Al Bashir loyalists.

The Khartoum branch of the Resistance Committees also called for demonstrations later on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear how big Thursday's demonstrations would be, but civilians have in recent months shown little appetite for street protests, possibly out of fatigue or fear of violence by security forces.

Security forces have killed more than 120 people and injured 6,000 during protests held since the 2021 coup, according to UN figures.